Paradigm S6 v2 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review

Paradigm S6 - Build Quality and Setup

Some speaker companies need no introduction. There are few names that are as associated with speakers as Paradigm. We've been itching to get a review from Paradigm for a long time and, like two ships passing in the night, we've missed many an opportunity. This opportunity was almost missed because the shipping company incorrectly transposed my address to their shipping label. Now if my across the street neighbor had known exactly what they were trying to deliver so many times, perhaps he would have signed the paper "John Doe" and locked his door for a few months. Thanks to his integrity the review pair finally made it to my door and I was able to unpack these beauties.

First Impressions and Build Quality

There are two schools of thought on speakers: they should either disappear into a room or become the centerpiece of it. The S6's are definitely aiming for the latter. The boxes arrived on the back of a flat bed truck (these have previously been unwilling to travel down my street - kudos to the driver for not being a wuss) and were plastic-wrapped to a pallet. The driver unwrapped them and I helped unload them from the truck. Each speaker is individually boxed so I carried in one speaker while he used a hand cart for the other (so much for the "not being a wuss" comment). Heavy? For one speaker yes. But not so much that I couldn't carry it the 25 yards or so down the driveway and into the house.

The packaging was more than adequate with the box corners supported with edge braces, top and bottom foam endcaps that look like they had been grown there (a perfect fit), and a plastic bag around the speaker to keep out the elements. The grill was packaged separately in a box supported by the endcaps so as to not bump into and possibly mar the exquisite finish on the speakers. The bottom of the box was bowed a bit (probably from the weight of the speaker) which made it a little unsteady. Some sort of bottom cap of wood or heavy cardboard might help alleviate this problem. As it was, the speakers were unsteady when standing up to the point where I was afraid they would fall over if not attended to closely. They didn't fall over but it seemed like they might.

Editor's note on the ubiquitous cotton sock
High end gear (and some not-so-high end gear) seem to go hand in hand with the cotton sock. For some reason audiophiles have come to associate them with quality. Everything seems to be wrapped in one these days. Personally, we fail to see the benefit of the sock. It makes the equipment (especially heavy gear like speakers) impossible to manage because of the lack of friction and more often than not the cotton leaves small particles all over your gear. The plastic bag, while lacking that "cool" factor has some distinct advantages like not mussing up your gear with lint and protecting it from the elements (very important when your gear is getting shipped to places like Florida). Hurray for Paradigm for resisting the temptation.

I broke open one of the boxes and noticed immediately the absolutely gorgeous bird's eye maple finish and knew that these speakers were not meant to be hidden behind an acoustically transparent screen. Getting the first speaker out was a bit of a chore until the paper fell out of the box that told me to open them from the bottom. Note to Paradigm, directions like that should be placed outside the box. Inside the grill box there was a set of carpet spikes that you can install before you tip them over. I've seen these same carpet spikes included with speakers at a fraction of the cost of the S6's. They are very hard to adjust and don't have much length on them. I'd like to see a higher quality spike preferably in some sort of outrigger setup for these speakers. At this price point, it doesn't seem out of place.

Build Quality

The fit and finish on these speakers is beyond reproach. I went over them with a fine-toothed comb and couldn't find a single blemish. Everything fits together perfectly with no visible misalignments or QC issues. The grill matches perfectly with the front baffle though I wouldn't mind seeing chrome binding posts or magnets rather than the plastic binding studs. While sturdy, the tight fit made me concerned about removing the grill multiple times. Even the veneer looked perfect. Whatever quality control methods they are using should be emulated by other manufacturers.

The front of the speaker sports two 7-inch mineral-filled polypropylene cone woofers, a single 7-inch cobalt-infused pure-aluminum cone midrange with a solid aluminum phase plug, a 1-inch pure-beryllium dome tweeter (see the specifications for all the technical stuff), and a front mounted port just below the drivers. There is a nice Paradigm logo plate on the bottom which is covered by the grill which sports the stylized "P" in the same location. The front of the baffle has a very industrial look with the drivers sporting thick metal mounting plates that seemed in stark contrast to the clean lines everywhere else on the speaker. With the grill on, the speaker once again took on an elegant shape and form. This is going to be a judgment call on your part on whether the speaker looks better with the grill on or off. Despite the internal webbing of plastic on the grill, I found very little if any difference sonically between listening with the grill on or off.

The rear of the speaker has a small gold plate that highlights the speaker make and model (and delineates it as a "high definition" speaker). The dual 5-way binding posts are of the highest quality with a gold plated jumper between them and the serial number at the bottom. You have the option of bi(buy)-wiring or bi-amping these speakers if you wish. Rapping on the side, the top two three quarters of the speaker felt secure and inert though I did detect some resonance near the bottom (below the port). Opening them up (want to have a stressful afternoon? Go after a $5k pair of speakers with a screwdriver) I was very pleasantly surprised at the attention to detail. Each of the screws sits in a little rubber sleeve, each driver has a rubber gasket underneath, and at select points there is a layer of rubber tape applied to the front of the speaker. All this works to ensure that any and all mechanical noise that could take place is completely controlled. The crossover uses high quality components including air-core inductors, high-power ceramic resistors and polypropylene capacitors. All the interior wiring is 12-gauge silver-plated copper.

The drivers are all magnetically shielded with the midrange and tweeter completely enclosed in their own plastic backbox. The backboxes have small fins on the back which may be used for cooling or just to look cool. The baskets are all cast and each driver is heavier than it looks. The port is flared at both ends and there is a piece of felt glued to the back of the enclosure behind it and along the polyfil on the sides most likely so that you see black if you look through the port rather than MDF or white polyfil. There is a central brace that runs the full length of the height of the 3/4 inch MDF enclosure. I couldn't find any additional bracing. Every additional space was stuffed to capacity with white polyfil to the point that it was almost impossible to get my hand in there to search around for bracing.

Set-Up

Unless you have a very even floor under your carpet, I'd suggest forgoing the spikes at first if you plan on using them. They are nigh impossible to adjust and the last thing you want to do it to have to pick the speaker all the way up every time you want to adjust it. Better you stick with the rubber nubs and find your preferred placement first and then install them. Just mark their location on the carpet with a bit of tape so that you know exactly where you had them. If it were me, and I had invested $5k on a set of S6's, I'd probably drop a few hundred more for a set of aftermarket outriggers like the ones from Soundocity. They'd make your life a lot easier. Paradigm has obviously thought of this as the foot mounts are completely removable with a single screw.

While my comparison speakers are woefully inadequate (from a pricing standpoint), my electronics are way up to snuff. The Emotiva Reference Audio series RSP-1 processor and RPA-1 amplifier represent not only top of the line quality but also top of the line value. An analogue only solution, this setup requires you to have a quality transport with top notch DACs. Enter the Denon DVD-3910. Combined, there is nary a speaker that cannot be driven into the ground or a critic that can complain that I didn't use adequate electronics for a review. Want to criticize the review? Look elsewhere because the electronics were not at fault. The speakers were wired with Blue Jeans Cables and all interconnects were courtesy of Impact Acoustics.

I played around with the toe-in of these speaker a bunch but finally ended up with a moderate toe-in that had the speakers pointed about a foot or two off each shoulder (or just over the armrests of the double center seat of my home theater couch). One thing you hear about Paradigm speakers is that they are bright. I can categorically deny that this is the case. Even with the speaker pointed directly at me, I felt no sense of fatigue or strain at normal listening levels. Unfortunately, many times these rumors start about an early design that has long since been abandoned or (more likely) from people with bad rooms that insist on blaming their speakers instead of the hardwood floors, concrete and brick walls, and complete lack of furniture and passive room treatments. My room is moderately treated with a few DIY panels at the first refection points, behind the listening position, straddling the rear wall, and behind the front speakers. My couches have high backs which practically eliminates slap echo. While many of the placements are more for aesthetic rather than sonic reasons, the benefits are easily discernable.

Paradigm, like more and more speaker manufacturers since we debunked the myth of speaker break-in, is recommending a short break-in period of a few hours. Usually I scoff at such hooey but in this case I found it quite beneficial. I didn't time anything but I started listening to the speaker directly after hooking them up and they sounded… weird. Tons of bass with no midrange. It just wasn't right. I decided to let the speaker sit in my system for a few days of normal use (Xbox 360 Halo 3 sessions with the occasionally Lego Star Wars II game with my son, TV and movie watching at normal listening levels, etc.) before going back to them for some critical tests. This definitely helped which I think was more than just breaking in my ears. I believe that the same could have been done by playing some music at a fairly loud level for 15 minutes or so but that's not what I did.

Paradigm S6 - Listening Evaluation and Conclusion

After setting up the speakers and getting them calibrated, it was time for some serious listening tests. I would love to say that I had some reference speaker on par with the Paradigm S6's to use as a comparison but I don't. The RBH TK-5CT's are a great floorstanding speaker for the price ($850/pair) that seriously put to shame anything even near its price category in my opinion but no one could expect them to hold up to the Paradigm's at over 5x's the price. Of course I did do a quick comparison. While listening to the RBH's I was thoroughly enjoying the listening experience. It was lively and detailed. Fun and engaging. When I switched to the Signature 6's, it was like sensory overload. There was so much more information there, the sound was so much bigger, I seemed almost taken aback. At first I thought I didn't like the S6's as much until I let my ears get used to hearing them. When I switched back to the TK-5CT's it was like going from a full orchestra to a quartet - sure the music was still there, it just wasn't as much, as full, or as impressive. After a few minutes with the TK's, I started liking them again but it was obvious that they were outclassed by the exponentially more expensive S6's. And that's the last I'll say about that comparison.

One problem I did have was the height of the speaker. The tweeter was so high that I would literally have to sit on something (I felt like a kid sitting on a phone book at the dinner table) to get my ears to tweeter height. At 42 inches, the tweeter is 2 1/2 inches than the RBH's which I think are a bit too high. While they could have compensated for the tweeter height by making it a bit hotter, the recommendations in the manual were to place your ears at tweeter height so it seems unlikely. This is something that you'll need to think about before you purchase. All listening tests were done with the grill on (as per Paradigm's recommendation) and the speakers run range.

CD: Yello – the eye
I start nearly every speaker review with this CD. There is just so much information there that I can quickly get a handle on how a speaker performs on a number of different metrics all at the same time. Bass, imaging, female vocals, response time… it's all at my fingertips. No matter what position I had the speakers in imaging was quite tight and controlled. Instruments were well placed in the soundstage and I had little problems locating each of the sound effects as they moved around. There are a few tracks that play with phase and can, with the right speaker, give the illusion that there is sound coming from behind you. The Signature 6's did an admirable job of this though they weren't up to the level of the $20k Innersound Kaya Reference electrostats I've heard with the same album. Then again, you could move your head and still have the same effect which the electrostats couldn't provide. Compared to other non-electrostatic speakers, imaging was some of the best I've heard and beyond a doubt the best I've heard in my room. I can't imagine that someone wouldn't be impressed by the imaging of these speakers. Phenomenal.

CD: Morcheeba - Charango
Morcheeba's smooth vocals and driving beats makes this an easy target for review material. The fact that I can listen to it with a house full of people and have everyone enjoy it as well is a huge plus. I put in this CD thinking that I would be listening for bass especially the kick drum and bass guitar. While these were particularly well represented, I found myself more caught up in the vocals and some of the background effects. The softness of Morcheeba's voice was excellently contrasted with the cymbals and background effects which were often in the upper register. Again imaging was rock solid and even though I knew I was listening to a two channel setup, I couldn't help but think that the center channel was somehow engaged. That's how solid the image was.

But let's not forget the bass. Kicking is a word. Clear, articulate, and punchy are a few others. The S6's had no problem filling my room, the room next to it, the kitchen… ok you get the idea. I could pump a lot of power into these speakers without feeling like I was reaching the limits. Let's put it this way, the S6's could easily turn my couch into a shiatsu massage chair with the right amp. And believe me, the RPA-1 is the right amp! I was constantly amazed at the amount of bass I was hearing even at low volumes. It seemed to fill the room and surround me even at low listening levels. The only problem was that the tweeters did start to get a bit fatiguing at higher volumes (we're talking 100dB+ high) not that I would ever recommend people listening at that high volume for any length of time.

CD: Bang & Olufsen Vol. XIII – The Sound of Perfection
I love to use this album for reviews because it has a variety of material (like Yello) and it is easy to listen to (unlike Yello) for the most part. There is way too much classical on it for me but overall it makes for a good time. If there was a chink in the armor of the S6's, it was the decision to mount the drivers on the front baffle. This can lead to diffraction issues. For the most part I didn't notice any problems but occasionally (and mostly during my time with this album and at higher volumes) I could. With a lot of midrange and upper bass information playing at the same time, the distinction between instruments became muddied and unfocused. It wasn't a completely unpleasant experience but compared to the performance of the speakers on other metrics it was a bit jarring. It's like being totally engrossed in a movie and having someone from the row behind you tap you on the shoulder to ask you the time.

This isn't to say that it was all (or even partially) bad. The midrange and upper bass were so much fuller and richer than anything I've ever heard in my room that it took me a long while just to get used to it. The Signature 6's are in a class above most everything else in my experience that I felt like a noob for about an hour. They seem to be more forgiving of bad material while still presenting you with the full musical experience. I've heard more detailed speakers in the past (remember, I'm sitting below the tweeter level so this may play a part) but usually at the expense of sounding antiseptic. The Paradigm S6's are anything but antiseptic especially at normal listening volumes. They struck me as warm and laid back. Once I started pushing them they got more forward but that is to be expected. The bass has great extension and sounded much more even in my room than I've heard before especially considering that I wasn't using a subwoofer or any sort of active EQ.

There is also a section on a track that uses a lot of notes from the very top end of a piano. I've used this section before to test not only extension but also how lifelike those notes sound. If you've ever tapped out chopsticks on the high end of a piano you know the sound. It is airy and tense. You can almost hear the felt mute the string as it strikes it. The S6's presented these notes in the most lifelike way I've ever heard - bar none. It was as if I were playing the piano. And all the while they still managed to shake my couch with bass. It was an amazing experience.

CD: Various - Jazz at the Pawnshop
This album isn't for everyone and honestly I have to be in the right mood for it. Coming from a jazz background, I find it has a certain kind of nostalgia for me. Pawnshop is a great CD for checking out how well a speaker presents a really well defined rendition of particular instruments and how dynamic it is. The music can quickly travel from near dead silent to a screeching sax in a millisecond. All the while there is a bunch of background noise (cups rattling, people talking, that sort of thing), a slow standup bass guitar, and a xylophone. Talk about difficult material! The Paradigm S6's had absolutely no problem responding to the dynamic range material and never so much as stumbled during my listening sessions. The only problem that I noted was that occasionally an upper note of a clarinet or sax would get away from tweeter and seem to take on a life of its own becoming a bit more harsh than it should be. Otherwise, I perfect rendition of this well recorded and excellently performed album.

Conclusion

One approaches a speaker of this caliber with a sort of reverence. You don't play music through them; you allow them to recreate the music for you. The Signature 6's are an expensive speaker, but for that you get fantastic build quality, great sonics, and aesthetics to die for. The Paradigm S6's present a laid back but full soundstage that is both wide and deep. Bassy, full, with a detailed high end, the S6's aren't the perfect speaker, but they may be right for you. Take a listen and find out.

Paradigm S6
$4599-$4999

Paradigm Electronics Inc.
11 - 919 Fraser Dr.
Burlington, ON L7L 4X8
Canada
www.paradigm.com

About Paradigm Electronics Inc.
Innovative design, advanced materials, in-house manufacturing, and state-of-the-art engineering have made Paradigm an international leader in speaker design. With more than 250 industry awards for audio excellence and numerous rave reviews from around the world, Paradigm is committed to being at the leading edge of speaker technology and consistently achieving the ultimate in sound for music and home theater.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value